Keigan Parker has saluted boss Gary Bollan as Airdrieonians close in on League One safety.

The former St Johnstone striker was brought in towards the end of last year and scored his third goal of the season in Saturday’s 2-0 victory at home to Dunfermline Athletic.

The Diamonds travel to Brechin City this weekend looking to make it five wins from their last seven matches.

And Parker believes the arrival of Bollan has been crucial to Airdrie’s survival fight.

He said: “It has been a great turnaround. I came here in December and the boys have been working hard and we’ve managed to grind out results.

“We got rid of a few players and the guys the manager has brought in have made a difference. We’re a more compact team and harder to beat. I think we started believing that we could beat anybody after those first few wins.

“The gaffer is a relatively young manager but he has good experience in the game having brought Livingston up through the divisions.

“He’s came in with his backroom staff and got people pulling in the same direction. One defeat in 12 games is testament to everybody.”

Meanwhile, Parker says his set-piece stunner against the Pars was straight from the training ground.

The 31-year-old curled home a 25-yard free-kick with Jim Lister sealing the triumph in injury time.

“Nine times out of 10 you look to go over the wall and get it in at the near post,” he said.

“But I’ve tried that free-kick a few times and if you hit it right, and get it anywhere near that back post, there’s a good chance the keeper’s guessing and the ball will go in.

“I was delighted to see it go in. Sometimes you don’t need to put much power on it and if you aim for the side netting the keeper will struggle to get there.”

He added: “It was a huge goal. You can see how tight it is at the bottom of the table. All the teams are down there battling away.”